JAKARTA (Jakarta Post/Pacific Media
Watch): The Indonesian media criticized on Friday new
guidelines for media coverage in Aceh, saying that rules
were effectively hampering the press from obtaining balanced
reports on the current integrated operations in the
conflict-torn province.

Bambang Harymurti, the chief
editor of the daily Tempo Koran, said on Friday that the
media had an "obligation to observe and tell our readers
what is really going on in Aceh."

Chairperson of the
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Ati Nurbaiti,
meanwhile, said that the media restrictions made it harder
for the public to obtain a balanced report of the war.

She
said that learning from the perceived success of embedded
journalism in Iraq, the TNI invited journalists to cover the
war in Aceh to open up the military campaign to public
scrutiny.

"But now we see more constraints apparently
coming from the TNI's realization of what public access can
lead to -- exposure outside their control," she said.

The
martial law administration in Aceh issued on Thursday a
declaration banning foreigners from visiting the province
and limiting the movements of foreign journalists to the
provincial capital Banda Aceh and the capitals of the
province's 15 regencies.

Aceh military administrator Maj.
Gen. Endang Suwarya said on Thursday that the guidelines
were aimed at ensuring the safety of foreigners in
Aceh.

The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents' Club (JFCC)
sent on Friday a letter to Coordinating Minister for
Security and Political Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda, urging the
government to ensure that foreign journalists could travel
freely to and within Aceh.

"Many of our members have
reported from numerous conflict zones around the world and
find the restrictions being imposed in Aceh among the most
restrictive ever encountered," the JFCC said in the
letter.

Foreign journalists and correspondents may report
only from the provincial capital Banda Aceh and the
province's 15 regency capitals. Travelling between districts
requires a military or police escort.

It also questioned
reports of the military banning local media from providing
any reporting or video footage to foreign media.

The JFCC
said that exchange of news materials was common practice in
the media industry, citing for example Indonesian television
showing footage from international media.

"It is a
violation of press freedom that local media are now being
prevented from offering their material, in turn, to foreign
media," said the JFCC in its letter.

This criticism has
come despite repeated discussions with government officials
in the hope that the new rules would continue to facilitate
coverage of the war in Aceh.

"The JFCC is deeply
concerned, however, that a series of delays and constantly
changing government and military rulings is in fact
preventing foreign media access to Aceh," it said.

The
military arrested on Friday 25-year-old Takagi Tadatomo, a
Japanese freelance photographer, who took pictures of
refugees in the Bireun regency.

Aceh military operation
spokesman Lt. Col. Ahmad Basuki Yani said that Tadatomo did
not have a permit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
was told to leave Aceh on Thursday.

Coverage by the local
media is subject to restrictions as well. The TNI bans
statement from rebels while at the same time encourages the
media to send embedded journalists reporting from the
military side.

Speaking in a gathering with journalists
last week, Aceh Military Operation Commander Brig. Gen.
Bambang Darmono reminded them that Aceh was under martial
law and that such stringent policies were fully
legitimate.

The tighter foreign media rulings add to
concerns of a lack of public scrutiny over the war. Rights
abuses were rampant in the period between 1989 and 1998 when
Aceh was declared a military zone. Over 10,000 people died
during the 10-year military operation, mainly
civilians.

Now the TNI has turned a cold shoulder to local
aid groups, including the government sanctioned National
Commission for Human Rights (Komnas Ham).

Meanwhile,
international aid groups and outspoken Acehnese activists
have virtually left the province.

+++niuswire

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